Emergency plane carrier



Feb. 14, 195$ c, DRlLL 2,497,590

EMERGENCY PLANE CARRIER Filed April 12, 1946 FIG.2.

luvs/v72? CHARLES DRILL r4 r-raevvE) l 2 .This invention relates :to adevice-that is ;iniacters represent :likelor corresponding. r partstended't'o be carriedzas'partof .theequipment ,:of throughouttheiviews,:':an airplane orthe; 1ike;-;so zthatit. normally re- "Figure', 1-- isa-i-side elevation of --an ,airplane \mains-out ni -service,but;isireadily-ayailable in being carried in fiight by said emergencydevice;

an emergency,-'ito;rise aspredetermined:distance' and c 'abovethezairplanezandgthence transport the lat- I Figure 2' is; a verticalelevation-"of: the emerter in any direction to the'best point oflanding. gcncy unit in normal inoperative position'w-ithin '1Theiinvention hasamongrits-objects, :the protheairplane, with-.theadjacent'parts of the vduction of such: a device thatwill-berelatively Hlatterand someofthe unitstructurezitself shown 11:compactrso as totoccupy azminimum of loading -5 cmcross-section.v,yspace'oipthe airplane'when.placed-within the 1 Referring more:particularlyto therdrawings, Z: latteiwthat will joeisufiicientlystrongand powerwherein I have illustrated a-prefer-red embodiful to'easilyi'carryjhe::load i0f11l7h6 airplane and mentiof-myrinvention; A.represents'anairplane :zfiits contents,zand-zwhich'iwilldoe otherwisesatis- :ofanyc desired size shapepand-construction,zit ii-.factory andiefficientiifor use' i wherever. .iound""' 5;'being understoodthat: thesame is furnished with suitable. a: suitable power=-plant-forenablingflight of; the One of theiprincipali-objectszofiimyinventionsamerandior-directing andguiding it in-e'said iStOTSO construct a device:of the kind described, fiight.

that the 1sameqwill'ehavebas axcomponent element It sometimeshappensthat there is acomplete Patented Feb. 14, 1950 2,4e7,59u

- UNITED sr-ArEs PATENT *QOLFFICE I CharlesD-rilLSt. Louis-,iMoassignor'to l.. Emma'M; Drill, St; ,Louis, ,Mo.

AppIication ApriIT- IZ, 1946, Serial No. 661,615

2..Claims. (c1.".-244-;-139) thereof; o y"he i opter b ade, tozthereb em0 (failure of the power-plant :of the airplane, and able-the deviceito.lift ,directlyupwardly'fromits ,5; if this, occursoriranythingelsehappens .that

--point of storage within" the airplane, and: with a:--causes?theairplane-tofail to'respond,tocontrol minimum lossoftimeiniso.;doing. Landfiight-zin the desired path, .or' for the esti-Another object "of my'iinvention is to make :mated time "thatit'wouldatake to-reach a'point :such an'emergency: device=self-'contained as a*---5vofsafety'orlanding, disastrous accidents canreflying unit; 'havingits xown power plant, flight- -'..sult, :and' it isi'or the purpose ofavoiding such -.sustaining parts,;iand' guide meansp'so' that it: is P'acci'dents that lemployanemergcncy flying unit in effect an auxiliaryflyingaunitsecondarywto :to She: normally stored and inactive'withinqthethe flying zuniton .which it is mounted. l: "airplane; lbut=readilyavailable for service when An added object of the invention is to soconneeded, to" carry. the load of-the plane and its struct sucha--mechanismthat said helicopter passengers.and-cargoor parts 'andqflythe-latter blade will be connecteddirectlyl .to the, power '"TiIlfbhG[path and-tothe/destination at which the plant for driving the same,butihaving in con- Piloadicanbellanded-insafety. nection therewithadjustable means whereby the v To': this end, I have: constructed'myemergency blade maybe retained normally ininoperativi iilirdevice asavselfecontained-flying unit; with all position so as to occupy? a:minimumaof nfloor .v-lnecessary controls and devices forxflying, andiin*gspace; but is manipulatableby the operator: to a, order to. conserve;floor :space; this idevice is made substantially vertical rotationalaxisto the .oper- :uof a. minimum transverse shape and area, and ativeflightposition of the-unit. v iaslightly elongated. vertically, somewhatiflSz'CiS A still further object of my. invention is to $6 0 showmand isnormallystored within a-compartarrange theoperators seat within sucha-device, vment somewhereiadjacent:the, point of :equilibthat he will bein a position t0 control the flight riunl.:'0f the airplane; sopthatwhen the :device of the unit and the'loadparriedby the same.carries the loaded 'planejthe lattercwillibegiairly Many other objects-andxadvantages of the con- 'well balanced"randy-the:controlliofiiflight of the ilstructionz herein shownand'zidescribedycand th -i'emergencyiunitiisbiloadedrwill beseasier.

uses mentioned, will be obvious to those skilled Any suitable powerplant, such as the internal in the art to which this inventionappertains, as combustion engine or motor I shown, is arwill be moreclearly apparent from the discloranged within a casing or housing 2,said engine sures herein given. being provided with the usual andnecessary co- To this end, my invention consists in the novel operatingelements such as the cooling system 3 construction, arrangement andcombination of receiving its cooling medium from the tank t in partsherein shown and described, and as will be any wellknown manner, and thefuel-storage more clearly pointed out in the claims hereunto tank 5 forcommunication with said engine.

appended. A helicopter rotor or blade B is operably con- In thedrawings, wherein like reference charnected to the shaft 6 driven by theengine I, and

vertical alignment with the main shaft 6, through the angular arerequired, I have provided a control through a rack segment 9 carried bythe shaft section "I, engaging with the worm l fixed to the casing 2 andoperably controlled by means of a handle H or the like. i

In order to control flight laterally, one or more vanes or rudders I2and 13 may be provided by securement to the casing, there being acontrol post or stanchion 14 through which the tillers 15 having theirends connected to said vanes are threaded, and controlled by the handleof wheel I G.

A seat I! may be provided within the housing or casing, for theconvenience of the operator, and it will be noted that all of thevarious controls are Within reach of the operator so seated.

A door l8 may be provided for entry into and exit from the housing, andthis door may be provided with a grille or screen for free flow of airthereinto, if desired.

If it is desired that a smaller opening through the airplane ceiling bepresent than that necessary when the blade is horizontal and projectedtherethrough, one or more panels I 9 may be provided immediately underthe ceiling of the airplane, the same being slidable to reduce orenlarge the opening through said ceiling.

One or more rings or anchor points 21 may be fixed to the airplane, asto the floor of the same, so that they may be secured to the ends of oneor more cables or other flexible connections 22 connected to theemergency unit, as for example to the base of the latter. For obviousreasons, it is preferred that the securement to the airplane be at suchpoint or points that when the latter is lifted by said cable or cablesthe airplane will be suspended at approximately the point of equilibriumor of the center of gravity of the airplane and render the guidingeasier.

Assuming that it is necessary to use the emergency unit to fly theairplane to a predetermined landing point, and with'the cables securedto the rings in the airplane, the operator gets into the housing, afterfirst having opened the top panels to full opening, and then manuallyadjust the rotor until its rotational axis is vertical. The motor isstarted, and the initial portion of the flight will be vertical, untilit is limited by the length of the connecting cables, and at which timethe unit will be slightly above the airplane, somewhat as indicated inFig. 1.

In this position, the emergency unit will sustain the airplane and itscargo in flight, and the operator within the unit then guides anddirects the same to the landing field or point deemed advisable underthe circumstances.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousimmaterial modifications may be made in same without departing from thespirit of the invention; hence I do not wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the exact form, shape, construction and combinationof parts herein shown and described, or the uses mentioned, except aslimited by the state of the art to which this invention appertains, andthe claims hereunto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with an airplane, of a pilotreceiving emergencycarrier therefor comprising a self-contained motor driven flying unitnormally mounted within said airplane, means in said unit to receivesaid pilot during operation of said unit, means for operating said unitto initially fly it together with its motor to a predetermined distanceabove said airplane and thence direct it in any direction, and aload-transmitting con necting means between said airplane and unit andlimiting the vertical separation of the latter relatively of the former.

2. In an emergency airplane carrier adapted to be normally carried ininoperative position within an airplane, an auxiliary internalcombustion auxiliary engine as a source of power independent of theairplane power unit, a housing about said auxiliary engine, a rotaryhelicopter blade drivingly connected to said engine and normally ininoperative lifting position exteriorly of said housing, means forcontrolling steering of said carrier in flight, an operators seat withinsaid housing and so positioned that the operator thereon can operativelyreach and control the flight of said carrier, and a flexible meansinterconnecting said airplane and carried and restricting relativemovement therebetween to a predetermined amount and whereby said carriertogether with its auxiliary engine and housing may be initially directedto a point a predetermined distance above the airplane upon operation ofthe carrier before the load of the airplane is carried by said carrier.

CHARLES DRILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 926,804 Brown July 6, 19091,019,988 Mullendore Mar. 12, 1912 1,379,522 Bruner May 24, 19212,227,20el Sepko Dec. 31, 1940 2,366,321 Ferro Jan. 2, 1945 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 425,351 France Apr. 3, 1911

